UCL amphibian study scoops Science prize

A UCL study that uncovered a new molecular cue that promotes limb regeneration in newts has won a prestigious international science prize. The annual Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recognises an outstanding paper published in the Research Article or Reports sections of the journal 'Science'. The experimental work for the paper was entirely performed in the UCL Research Department of Structural and Molecular Biology, and it is is the first time in four years that biologists have won the prize. The winning team comprised UCL Research Department of Structural and Molecular Biology researchers Anoop Kumar, James Godwin, Phillip Gates and Professor Jeremy Brockes, and a former graduate student of the department, Acely  Garza-Garcia. They discovered that the protein nAG helps to stimulate the proliferation of blastema: a collection of cells at the tip of the stump formed when an amphibian's limb is severed - and from which the new limb grows. Even when the nerve was severed beneath the stump tip, the authors were able to coax the formation of a blastema by artificially inducing cells to express the protein. The blastema was capable of generating a new limb with normal features, although the limb wasn't fully functional.